The field of the invention relates generally to apparatus for and methods of applying ribbon to a web and more particularly to apparatus for and method of applying ribbon in a nonlinear pattern to a moving web.
Absorbent articles, such as disposable diapers, training pants, adult incontinence articles and the like, generally include several different components that are bonded together. Typical absorbent articles include a bodyside liner, an outer cover, and an absorbent core disposed between the liner and outer cover. Besides the liner, outer cover, and absorbent core, typical absorbent articles also include a number of discrete components, e.g., fasteners, waist elastics, leg elastics. These discrete components of the article are often bonded to the bodyside liner and/or the outer cover. For example, it is known to adhesively bond leg elastics in a curved pattern to a continuous web of outer cover material or bodyside liner material.
However, known techniques for applying leg elastics to a web moving at high line speeds are often limited in the amount of displacement (e.g., the amount of amplitude in a curved pattern) that can be achieved. Thus, leg elastics in known absorbent articles produced at high line speeds are often straight or relatively straight. The leakage protection and the aesthetic appearance of known absorbent articles can be improved, however, by incorporating leg elastics with significant curvature along their lengths.
Known efforts to place leg elastics with significant amounts of displacement (i.e., curvature) onto a web at high line speeds have been unsuccessful. These efforts have resulted in leg elastics being placed off target. Moreover, the deviation of the applied leg elastics from the target was not always the same.
As a result, it is desirable to provide an apparatus and method for accurately applying a ribbon in a nonlinear manner to a web moving at high line speeds.